Crossways: A Psi-Tech Novel Page 3

  She sighed. “Well, we do seem to have stolen a spaceship. I guess that means we’ve descended to the criminal classes.”

  “Ascended, I’d say,” Ben said. He was relieved when she grinned back at him.

  The Solar Wind could give them a hell of an edge. He intended to keep her, since she wasn’t ever going back to her original owner. They’d left van Blaiden’s ashes scattered on Olyanda, and good riddance. A nastier individual would be hard to find.

  Having a fancy boat like this just might make a difference in the future. Whatever it took to keep the wolves away from the sheep. These days there were more and more wolves, and the sheep were spread out thinly among the stars without a shepherd.

  Ben felt the familiar buzz of Cara’s implant handshaking with his own.

  *Mother Ramona,* she said. *Calling from Crossways.*

  *Okay, ready.* Ben was used to Cara’s touch inside his head. It never seemed intrusive or abrupt. His own Psi-1 rating was in Navigation. He could barely throw a thought from here to the wall by himself, so he needed a strong Telepath like Cara to run comms for him.

  There was a slight internal lurch as the focus shifted and Mother Ramona herself arrived in Ben’s mind, front and center, routed through Cara on Solar Wind and Ully on Crossways Station. Mother Ramona, a marble-skinned, genetically engineered exotic whose criminal activities included smuggling, identity manipulation, espionage, counterespionage, and network hacking, had stuck to every deal they’d made. Without her they’d never have extricated the settlers from Olyanda.

  *Benjamin, you took your time,* Mother Ramona said. *Your settlers are driving us crazy. If Garrick hadn’t signed a contract to keep them safe I think he’d have spaced them by now.*

  *Sorry about that. Had some business to attend to. Turns out it wasn’t as simple as I’d hoped. There’s a warrant out for our arrest.*

  *I know. Even Crossways has received it, though I have no idea why.* She laughed. Even mentally her laugh was more like a cackle. It was the one thing that made her seem older than she was, or perhaps it gave away her true age, which otherwise she hid very well.

  *Good thing you have no extradition treaty with any of the megacorporations.* Ben didn’t try to hide his own amusement at the thought.

  *If we did, half of Crossways’ upstanding citizens would be in the chokey.* Mother Ramona’s mental voice went from humor to worry. *They’ve pretty much thrown the book at you, though.*

  *We know. Had a bit of a brush with an old friend.* He frowned. *Not exactly a friend, to be honest. Long story.*

  *I look forward to hearing it sometime.*

  *Me too,* Cara echoed.

  He shot Cara a look and she pulled back out of the conversation.

  Mother Ramona continued, *While you’ve been tying up loose ends we’ve been trying to accommodate ten thousand pains in the ass who’ve never even seen a space station before. We’ve had to corral them in the stadium. It’s not pretty in there. Your psi-techs have set up camp in the upper bleachers while the settlers are down on the pitch. Victor Lorient is . . . well let’s just call him high maintenance. Even his wife won’t talk to him anymore.*

  There was a reason for that which went beyond the current settler situation, but it wasn’t up to Ben to divulge it. Lorient, the settlers’ ultra psi-phobic leader, had been more than just a pain in the ass throughout their time on Olyanda.

  *I get it,* Ben said. *We’d better find the settlers a new planet soon, or else.*

  The audio comm buzzed into life and Crossways Control announced, “Solar Wind, you’re cleared for docking. Proceed to Port 22, Green Sector.”

  Ben saw Cara touch her vox. “Thank you, Crossways,” she said. “On final approach.”

  *Be with you, soon,* Ben told Mother Ramona. *Your flight controllers have cleared us for docking.*

  *Port 22 is Garrick’s private dock,* Mother Ramona said. *I’ve vouched for you personally, so mind your manners.*

  *Will do,* Ben said. *Can you do us one more favor?*

  *How much is it going to cost me?*

  *Nothing. It will cost us in the long run,* Ben said. *Can you find us a space we can take over? I don’t care how spartan it is. Even an empty warehouse will do. I’d like somewhere I can get my psi-techs away from the settlers.*

  *I’ll see what I can do. I guess there’s not much love lost.*

  *The settlers are a bunch of Ecolibrian fundies,* Ben said. *They’re never going to like implant-enhanced psi-techs, no matter how many times we save their asses.*

  Mother Ramona gave the mental equivalent of a suppressed laugh.

  *I’ll see what I can find.*

  Ben turned his attention to docking an unfamiliar ship in one of Crossways’ internal docks. There was little room for error.

  “Harnesses,” Ben broadcast ship-wide. “Safety lockdown for manual docking.”

  *All battened down here,* Ronan Wolfe, their medic, responded privately to Ben. *How is your shoulder?*

  *Sore but holding.*

  *And Cara?*

  *Making light, but I’ve seen her try to ease her ribs when she thinks no one is watching.*

  Ben lined up Solar Wind with Port 22’s blue access lights. The station filled the viewscreen, her pulse-cannon obvious from this distance, barrels sticking out like bristles on the side of a porker.

  Port 22 grew from a small dark rectangle on the bulbous end of one of Crossways’ huge projecting caissons to a gaping maw that swallowed them whole. The screen view switched to a functional glideway with a run of central guide lights.

  Ben cut the power, feeling a slight bump as the grav buffers caught and the ship regained weight. Solar Wind settled gently into her landing gear and the clamps engaged. The air lock began to cycle.

  Home—for now, at least.

  As the rest of the crew left the flight deck, Cara sat back in Solar Wind’s comms chair.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Ben asked.

  “Of course I don’t mind. I’ve been waiting for you to suggest it.”

  She swiveled around to face him.

  “It won’t tire you too much?”

  “Stop trying to give me an out. You need to talk to your Nan. Yes, it’s a long way, yes it will be tiring, but it’s what I’m trained for. Now do you want to do this or not?”

  He nodded. He’d hoped to be able to bring his family off Chenon, but Alexandrov had foiled that plan along with his attempt to get at Crowder.

  “Okay.”

  Cara breathed deeply and closed her eyes, sitting perfectly poised. Bruise or no bruise, she looked beautiful, even in a severe black buddysuit that disguised the curves he knew were there.

  *Ready?* she asked.

  He followed Cara’s mental link as her thoughts ranged out toward Chenon and Nan. Ben could feel her concentrate on seeking out his fierce and formidable grandmother, matriarch of the Benjamin family, or what was left of it: Ben’s older brother, Rion, and Rion’s two boys, Kai and Ricky.

  *Cara!* He felt the moment of contact as Nan recognized Cara’s mental touch. *Is Reska all right?*

  Nan was the only one who ever used Ben’s given name. He’d been Ben Benjamin since his first day in the Monitor Cadets, just as Jessop had become Jess.

  *Ben’s fine,* Cara said. *Here, see for yourself.*

  She pulled back, leaving Ben and Nan to talk to each other through her link.

  *Reska. It’s been too long—*

  *Sorry, there was a reason for that, Nan. Things went south very fast on Olyanda and I didn’t want to put you in danger by giving you information others might want, but you need to know now.*

  *Tell me the worst of it.*

  Nan never wasted time on irrelevant explanations.

  *We found platinum on Olyanda and Crowder betrayed us to get it all for the Trust.*

&nbs
p; *And did he?*

  *Get it? No. I sold it to Crossways, but it was touch and go for a while. He tried to wipe out the colony with a plague.*

  *But you’re all still there.*

  *Still alive, but not on Olyanda.*

  *What do you need us to do?*

  *Get the first shuttle off-planet to a neutral station. I’ll meet you there.*

  There was a significant pause before she answered. *Not going to happen. Ricky would love a trip off-world, but you think I could possibly get Rion off this farm?*

  Ben fought down rising frustration. His older brother might as well have been welded to the land.

  *I’m worried Crowder will try to use you as a bargaining chip.*

  *You think we’re in danger?*

  *I’d be happier if you all found a bolt-hole and kept your heads down in case someone comes calling. Can you find an excuse to bring Kai home? He’s a sitting target in Arkhad. The university’s too close to the city.*

  *Kai’s on a field trip to one of the moon arcologies. He’s safer than any of us.*

  *That’s good. Warn him, but don’t trust the house’s regular comms links. Your line might be bugged already.*

  *Understood.*

  Ben saw Cara begin to sway sideways. The call had taken long enough.

  *That’s it for now, Nan. We’ll be in touch again as soon as we can. Love you.*

  *Love you, too, boy. Take care, both of you.*

  *We will.*

  He felt Cara close off the conversation and her eyes opened.

  “Thanks,” he said. “You followed all that?”

  “I did. Will Nan be able to persuade Rion to leave the farm?”

  Ben thought of his brother. Stubbornness was his strength and his failing.

  “Probably not, but at least they’re warned now.”

  Kitty Keely pushed down panic. Had she overstepped her authority? Would she get a medal or a reprimand? Hell, she was so out of her depth her feet might never touch the bottom again. It had all started when Akiko Yamada, Alphacorp’s director, had called her into her office in Sandnomore, Alphacorp’s headquarters in the Saharan Rainforest, and personally instructed her to spy on Ari van Blaiden. She wanted to know all his dirty little secrets.

  “You’re van Blaiden’s type. You’re ideally placed in his department. Get close to the man.”

  “How? I mean . . .”

  Ms. Yamada had looked at her over her entirely unnecessary retro-fashion spectacles and said, “Use your initiative, Ms. Keely.”

  She’d swallowed. “You want me to sleep with him?”

  “No, Ms. Keely, sleep is the last thing I had in mind. I want you to fuck him bowlegged if that’s what it takes. I don’t care how you do it, but win his confidence. My Telepath, Rufus, will contact you for a weekly report.”

  “But you can’t order me to—”

  “Your reluctance is noted. Perhaps I can sweeten this for you a little. You mother has recently been diagnosed with Ren-Parry Syndrome.”

  Kitty swallowed and nodded numbly. It was curable, but the treatment was expensive and not available in Shield City. She’d applied for a loan—Damn, was that how Ms. Yamada knew? Weren’t those things confidential?

  “Forty thousand credits,” Ms. Yamada said. “That’s the full cost of a course of treatment. Such a pity to lose a loved one for lack of a mere forty thousand credits.”

  Forty thousand didn’t seem mere to Kitty. “I’ve applied for a loan.”

  “Which will be refused.”

  “What?”

  “But I will personally make sure your mother receives the best of care at Alphacorp’s clinic in Switzerland. Keep the reports coming and your mother’s course of treatment will continue.”

  “What if I can’t get him interested?”

  “That would be a pity. I understand that unless the course is one hundred percent completed the treatment isn’t effective at all.”

  Kitty had left Ms. Yamada’s office in shock. She’d taken the York flight from Sandnomore with her mind spinning in circles. She was the right size and shape and the right coloring to fall into the category of Mr. van Blaiden’s type, and she was certainly in the right place—his office was just down the hall from where she’d been posted, fresh from flight school—but she was no spy. What did Ms. Yamada suspect him of? She so didn’t want to get involved in anything clandestine. She’d been hoping for a proper posting in the far reaches of space. Getting involved with politics was going to screw her career.

  When she’d realized she was making her lip sore by biting it, she’d activated the sound baffle around her seat and picked up the comm only to find a message from her mother. The image wavered, but the sound was clear.

  “Kitty, sweetheart, I don’t know what to say.” Mom was smiling like Kitty remembered her doing when she was younger and healthier. “That nice Doctor Pinder came in person and explained everything. I’m booked on a flight to Switzerland first thing in the morning. She said not to worry, once the treatment is complete I should regain the sight in my left eye and the feeling in my feet and there won’t be any further deterioration. And I have you to thank for it, my girl. You and Alphacorp.” Her face clouded, just a little. “Can we really afford it? I mean, I know you’re drawing full pay now, but . . .”

  She responded. “Don’t worry, Mom. It’s all taken care of.” She really had no choice. “Just get well soon. I love you.” She hit send.

  Ari van Blaiden, get ready, ’cause here I come. Damn and blast it!

  Getting close to Ari hadn’t been as easy as that, of course. He’d seemed supremely disinterested until she’d mentioned the fact that she’d taken the advanced class in jumpship flying. Then all of a sudden he’d started sending her flowers, which quickly led to the bowlegged fucking thing, except it had been her on the receiving end. That man could go. Despite the fear of being found out, it had been fun at first, when he’d been in the wooing stage. After that—well—she’d rather forget what happened later.

  Ari had never suspected, though.

  She’d continued to report until the day he’d tried to use Carlinni to take down Benjamin and it had all gone horribly wrong. She’d reported van Blaiden’s death and then asked the Telepath, “What happens to my mother? The treatment isn’t complete. Tell Ms. Yamada I did my best.”

  Rufus had simply shut off the conversation and hadn’t been in touch since.

  So when Kitty had spotted the opportunity to attach herself to Benjamin’s psi-techs she’d gone for it. Once again she had information worth something, and hopefully it would pay for her mother’s continuing treatment. All she needed to do was to get a message to Ms. Yamada to restart those regular links.

  Of course, she needed to make sure she stayed on Benjamin’s good side. She wasn’t going to be able to get to him the same way she had van Blaiden, but he did need another jumpship pilot. That could be a way in. She needed to try harder next time.

  *Mother Ramona has found you a warehouse space.* Mother Ramona’s personal Telepath, Ully, came through as Ben followed Cara down the tube to Solar Wind’s main deck. *She’s arranged for a real estate agent to meet you at the dock and take you straight there. Her name’s Bettina Mirakova.*

  Ben gathered his skeleton crew at the top of Solar Wind’s extended ramp. He noted they’d all removed the Trust’s insignia from their buddysuits. This wasn’t the place to show affiliation to any of the megacorps, especially since that affiliation had been irreparably broken.

  “Crossways isn’t like most space stations,” Ben said. “Despite what you may have heard, there are rules. Stay together. Don’t get into trouble. Gupta and Jon Moon are on duty here to look after things, so the ship will be available if you need a bolt-hole. Cara and I are going to check out a potential home space. I’ll let you know if we find somewhere we can all hang our hats. After th
at we all have decisions to make about where to go from here. If you have to get in touch with your families, limit what you tell them. Remember there’s a warrant with your name on it. Don’t give your family the responsibility of keeping your secrets if the Trust knocks on their door.”

  “What about me?” Kitty Keely asked.

  “What about you?” Kitty was trim and fair, maybe a couple of centimeters shorter than Cara. It was easy to see how the two women fell into the broad category of Ari van Blaiden’s type, yet Kitty didn’t interest him at all. She was pretty enough in a superficial way, but his attraction to Cara wasn’t all about beauty.

  “You didn’t promise me anything more than Crossways, and I appreciate I didn’t do so well with Solar Wind’s foldspace jump, but I’d really like to stick around. Do I lose myself here or am I joining the team?”

  “Good question. Until a few days ago you were on the side trying to kill us.”

  “You know I wouldn’t have signed up for that if I’d known what I was getting into.”

  Ben glanced sideways at Cara.

  *She’s telling her own truth as far as I can judge, but what do I know? I believed Ari, too. At first, anyway.* Cara was the first to admit that her Empathy skills were intermittent at best.

  Ben dipped his head fractionally in acknowledgment. “We’ll decide how permanent it is later when we know our next move, Kitty. Stick with Gupta for now. He’ll find you something to do.”

  She gave him a tight little smile and turned back toward the ship as everyone dispersed, leaving Ben and Cara with Wenna and Ronan Wolfe, the dashing young doctor who had worked with Ben on several missions before Olyanda and was, along with Wenna, one of the survivors of the ill-fated Hera-3 debacle.

  “Aren’t you two going exploring?” Ben asked.

  Ronan shrugged apologetically. “As your doctor I feel obliged to make sure you two follow my instructions to take it easy. Besides, Jon has drawn guard duty, so I find myself temporarily without a partner.”

  “And since I never had a partner in the first place, you’re stuck with me, too,” Wenna said. “I’m too old for singles bars. Besides, I’ll set off every scanner alarm I pass through until I register this with Station Security.” She touched her right arm, prosthetic from the bicep down, with her good left hand, a self-conscious gesture that Ben still winced to see. She’d survived Hera-3, but not without injury.